Letter: Hiding climate change

I’m a recently-retired research scientist for the USAF Space and Missile Systems Centre in Los Angeles. I know the facts about climate change and how they are being hidden, so I am a little shocked at public opinion in the Quad Cities.

I’ve been trying to “un-hide” that information locally. It’s interesting that the Courier now dedicates less space to public voices – perhaps following the lead of the City Council (meetings during the normal workday hours when few can attend) or Prescott Valley, which, I hear, lets the public speak only after voting has taken place.

Well, democracy is declining everywhere, and the US is now officially a “Troubled Democracy.”

Be that as it may, Payson, Tucson, and Pima County have declared their intent to survive the coming climate-change fiasco, which is being accelerated by the current administration, by becoming “Transition Towns.” Changing a town, city, or county like that takes time – years – so they’re smart to be starting this effort now before the situation becomes dire.

Even with democracy evidently on the decline in the quad-city area, we (and by “we” I mean our children and grandchildren) are well-served by any intent to prepare for the known future in the same way as these three Arizona locales.